Moving!

Matty in our tiny, old kitchen, amidst the aftermath of a dinner party for eight.

Big news! Matty and I are moving!

We’re not going far; just up the road a few minutes to Santa Monica. After eight years at my old place, I’m now realizing that we managed to pack a TON of stuff into very little space… especially the kitchen. (The moving estimator told me that we have quite a bit more “stuff” than the average one-bedroom place. Oy!)

The movers are coming on Wednesday, but we’re schlepping all the fragile stuff on our own before then — and emptying the storage unit, too. That means we’re between kitchens right now.

The gas isn’t turned on yet at the new place, so we don’t have a working stove, and we’ve been eating out a lot. We’re already starting to feel a little yucky from all the take-out. Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s have tons of (fairly) healthful prepared foods, but it’s also getting quite expensive… and it’s still no substitute for homemade.

I’m sure we’ll make it through, and come Wednesday night, we’ll be cooking our first dinner together in the new place. Can’t wait!

What do you do when you move? Do you still manage to cook? Or do you give in and just eat out for all your meals? Got any tricks for moving meals? Do tell!

Congrats on the bigger kitchen and new space! Wish I had some tricks, but we always have ended up with excess eating out when moving. Just so difficult when you’re trying to pack up and move your kitchen.

Love your new kitchen, especially the stove and the blue tile. You are going to be so happy there, I can just tell! I’ve moved about 6 times in the last 5 years – and I definitely have some tricks which I’m happy to share: – Mark each box clearly (all 4 sides & top) with the room it belongs in – Take those boxes directly to that room when you unload them from the truck – Take your clothes in your car – closet to closet – Take your bedding with a small suitcase/box of the stuff you’ll need right away: toothbrushes, soap, towels for your 1st shower, change of clothes, etc. Make your bed right away! – Place your furniture straight off the truck – you can always move it later, but at least you won’t be living in a complete mess! -As for the food part –… Read more »

Most of the moves I’ve done had been international and forced me to fit everything into two suitcases and maybe another one if someone had just come to visit and was returning to where I was going. It really helps you pare down what is absolutely necessary. Not much is, as it turns out, and stuff I thought I’d regret leaving or selling or giving away just didn’t matter. And it makes things more precious later, like my German knobi-press or French Peugeot pepper mill. I can’t imagine a way to avoid eating out a bunch, unless you’ve stocked your freezer with homemade soups and healthy casseroles and can just drive them to the new freezer. It is nice to know (in a way) that the take out is proving itself to be not as great as homecooking. Of course you knew that, but validation is key! 🙂 Those moving… Read more »

As for moving, we’ve done a fair bit of it over the years, and it seems, no matter how hard you try – eating out is just inevitable. Luckily you live in the land of TJ’s and Whole Foods. We did a brief stint in Park City, Utah a few years ago, and yeah…not so much with the healthy or plentiful dining options… 😉

Thanks, everyone! I have to admit, we got incredibly lucky with the new place… The stars aligned, and everything just worked out for the best. Not sure what we’ve done to deserve it… 🙂 Guess I’ll just have to keep doing good in the world, eh? The move went well yesterday. We did hire movers, and thank g-d for that! It took the crew of four all day — which gives you an idea of (1) how much stuff we have (I had no idea!) and (2) How tricky the stairs in the new place are… If anyone wants to hire movers, I highly recommend Flat Rate Movers, they were terrific. I’ve got the internets up & running and my desk is set back up, so I’ll be around facebook, twitter a little more again… and will start working on my next blog post. 🙂